Rarely do I get a request to have more toilets than are required. The good news is that small office buildings that have 15 or fewer occupants can provide only one handicapped restroom. Mercantile shops can have one restroom for an occupant load of 100 or fewer. You will need to refer to the Occupant Load article in order to properly calculate your occupant load.

Once you have a total occupant load for your entire building, you simply divide it in half to determine the number of women and men for your building. The “partial” chart below provides the number of toilets and sinks that you will need based on the primary building classification. High-assembly spaces have a different number needed than a typical office building. Not all of the space categories are included in the image provided. If your classification is not included, a simple Google search should provide you a full chart table.

For typical downtown buildings, only one handicapped stall within a multiple-stall restroom would be required. As you design the men’s restroom, take common sense into consideration for the number of urinals-to-toilets you provide. If all you need is one women’s and one men’s restroom, they both need to be handicap-accessible.

If you want a separate or isolated restroom that is only used by staff or designated for family, etc. it will also need to be fully handicap-compliant. This restroom can be included in either a women’s or men’s fixture count.
The number of sinks or lavatories are also defined in the chart table.
Drinking fountains are not required in occupant loads of 15 or less.

Number of Toilets Calculation